Today, as you roast your turkey, grill your vegetables or consider where you’ll order takeout consider this: way back in the day a great Thanksgiving meal could make the newspaper. And we’re not talking about reviews. Here's the story of just such a feast.

It's time for another radio road trip Along The Great Wagon Road - our series exploring the history of the Charlotte region with Tom Hanchett of the Levine Museum of the New South.

Today, our road trip takes us north on I-77 a bit to Huntersville, where an extraordinary piece of American history is hidden in plain sight. It’s a monument to one of America’s great forgotten philanthropists and of white-black partnership in the Jim Crow South.

It’s time for another stop Along the Great Wagon Road, WFAE’s series exploring the history of the Charlotte region with Tom Hanchett of the Levine Museum of the New South. In this installment, the story of a car company in an unexpected place.

In 1881, the first cotton mill opened in Rock Hill, South Carolina—the first in the state to be powered by steam. Over the next 15 years, the town’s population would grow more than seven times over. By the early 20th Century, that mill would have an unusual neighbor: the Anderson Motor Company.

For much of the 20th century, the southeastern quadrant of Uptown Charlotte contained a bustling neighborhood known as Brooklyn. It formed because of segregation, but grew into the center of Charlotte’s black community. Torn down and paved over, a vibrant Second Ward became a sleepy government district. But city leaders plan to revive the area through a new development that bears a familiar name, if they can get it off the ground.

Before Nashville became the country music capital of the country, Charlotte was a major center for early country and blues artists to record. Record companies looking for new sounds outside the big cities of the north came to Charlotte several times between the late '20s and '40s in search of “hillbilly” and “race” music as it was called back then.